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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, October 2-4, 2019 A-7 The Park Record W Green Tips Wet Hot Park City Gold Mine Our addiction to cars AY WE WERE Mayflower mine produced 45-plus tons of gold LARRY WARREN Park City Museum In Park City’s first century, its fame was based on mining, not skiing. And it was most famous for being the nation’s second largest silver strike behind Nevada’s Comstock Lode, although other minerals like lead, zinc and copper were also abundant and valuable. But one mine, and only one, was a prolific gold producer. At the eastern edge of the Park City Mining District, running roughly from the base of Deer Valley’s Mayflower lift out to Highway 40, lay the underground workings of the Mayflower Mine. Besides its rich veins of gold, the Mayflower had different characteristic from RECYCLE UTAH Americans collectively drive trillions of miles every year. Light-duty vehicles produced about 1/5 of the United States’ emissions footprint in 2017. Imagine, now, if every driver drove 10% less – no need to ditch the car – just used it more wisely. What an impact on greenhouse gas emissions that would be! A 10% cut by every driver would be equivalent to taking about 28 coal-fired power plants offline for a year. This would require every American driver to cut out about 1,300 miles a year. Considering that a third of car trips are less than two miles long, walking, biking or public transport are viable for these short trips. How about an electric bike or scooter? Plan ahead to combine errands, carpool and avoid unnecessary trips. Consider a housing complex with 200 apartments. If ev- PARK CITY MUSEUM, JORDANELLE SPECIAL SERVICE DISTRICT COLLECTION Blasting at the 1,270 level of the Mayflower Mine in 1950. Photograph taken by Hal Rumel. other local mines. Both the rock and water which trickled through the ground registered at 149 degrees. The Mayflower was hot, wet and full of gold. Altogether during the mining years, Park City produced 45 tons of gold, most of it from the Mayflower. This Mayflower Mine is not to be confused with an earlier Mayflower Mine — the one discovered by Thomas Kearns, who built a fortune from it, leading him to become a U.S. Senator from Utah and owner and publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune. Kearns merged that Mayflower and other claims into the Silver King Mining Company with his partners. The Mayflower Mines Corporation formed in 1929. More than 200 miners worked above and below ground from then through the late 1950s, although employment and profits varied based on metals prices. By the late ‘50s, with profits and production declining, the mine company switched to a “miner’s lease” operation, in which the company and the miners agreed to a split of sales proceeds. The miner’s lease allowed the company to spread the risk of mining in difficult financial times, paying miners a percentage of what they actually produced. By 1961 a new operator came into the picture: Hecla Mining based in Northern Idaho. They canceled the miner’s lease and invested heavily in modernization, spending $650,000 to build a new mill to process ore. They also installed a 240-ton cooling unit, replacing an older ventilation system relying on cooler fresh air from the outside. As Hecla tunneled into new deposits, production increased and by 1966 the U.S. Bureau of Mines reported the Mayflower as the United States sixth big- gest gold producer. By 1972, with gold veins playing out, the Mayflower was sold to investors for resort development. But not until this summer has a development group begun work on the surface, readying the ground for the new Mayflower Resort. On Oct. 2, the Park City Museum hosts Park City mining veteran and geologist Keith Droste for a lecture about Park City’s only gold mine. Droste worked for Hecla Mining and evaluated the Mayflower before Hecla entered into its lease of the property. Droste, who has 64 years in the mining business all over the world, was the Mayflower’s Superintendent from 1966 to 1969. His lecture “Hot, Wet, Payable Gold: The Mayflower Mine” starts at 5 p.m. at the Park City Museum’s Education & Collection Center on 2079 Sidewinder Drive. ery home updated their bulbs to LED, the energy savings would be spectacular. Many of us consider ourselves as committed to the environment because we recycle and compost, use LEDs, watch our water or eat less meat than in past years. Then, there’s the transportation piece. It’s not all our fault that our love affair with the automobile is a tough one to boot as U.S. transportation systems and low gas prices often encourage car use. Therefore, while it’s challenging, we still owe it to our environment, future generations and local transportation planners to support initiatives to drive less. It’s our personal job to make a new plan, jump on the buss and make us free from our beloved cars. Recycle Utah, your community non-profit drop-off recycling center, provides these weekly tips. Visit their website for more information – www. recycleutah.org. Feds clear way for ATVs in parks National parks rule to take effect Nov. 1 Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY – ATVs will be allowed on certain roads in the five national parks in Utah under a new rule from the National Park Service that went through without public comment. The Salt Lake Tribune reports the agency informed park administrators last week in a memo about a policy change that allows ATVs on main ac- cess roads and back roads. It puts the national parks in compliance with a Utah state law passed 2008 that allows any “street-legal” vehicle on state and county roads. The rule takes effect Nov. 1 and only applies to national parks in Utah. Agency spokeswoman Vanessa Lacayo said ATVs still can’t go off road wherever they want. Off-highway vehicle advocacy groups pushed U.S. government officials to make the change. Conservation groups criticized a rule they say will worsen traffic and parking in parks. ELECTION NOTICE To all qualified electors of the North Summit Recreation Special Service District, Summit County, Utah: Take notice that on November 5, 2019, a special election (the “Special Election”) shall be held in the North Summit Recreation Special Service District, Summit County, Utah (the “District”), at the places set out below for the purpose of submitting to the qualified electors of the District the question contained in the following ballot proposition: OFFICIAL BALLOT FOR THE NORTH SUMMIT RECREATION SPECIAL SERVICE DISTRICT, SUMMIT COUNTY, UTAH SPECIAL ELECTION November 5, 2019 /s/ Kent Jones County Clerk PROPOSITION Shall the North Summit Recreation Special Service District, Summit County, Utah (the “District”), be authorized to impose a property tax on the taxable value of taxable property within the District up to a maximum rate that shall not exceed .000104 for the express purposes of financing the costs of all or a portion of the general operation and maintenance expenses of the District? PROPERTY TAX COSTS. If the maximum property tax described in the election Proposition is imposed as planned, an annual property tax in the estimated annual amount of $28.50 on a $275,000 primary residence and in the estimated amount of $51.82 on a business property having the same value as said residence will be imposed on property owners within the District. The information in this notice with respect to increases in taxes is an estimate only based on current assumptions of the District. The information is intended to provide an elector with some indication of the impact the imposition of the maximum rate of the proposed property tax may have on taxes paid. FOR THE IMPOSITION OF THE PROPERTY TAX AGAINST THE IMPOSITION OF THE PROPERTY TAX |